Andrew M Brown is the Telegraph's obituaries editor.

Giant rats? I'm not surprised, with the disgusting amount of food we waste

Nobody who lives in a city will be surprised to read that rats that size of domestic cats are now roaming our urban spaces. For now, reports of these gigantic rodents – 30 inches in length, if reports are to be believed – are restricted to a housing estate in Bradford, West Yorkshire. But I expect they've already spread to the rest of the country.

Rats are frightening creatures even when normal-sized, and they carry diseases – notably plague, and Leptospirosis or Weil's disease – that can be deadly, especially to children. Also, what makes them even nastier is that they appear not to fear us. People who encounter rats say that the fierce creatures stand their ground and look aggressive. Urban foxes are said to be similarly brazen, and this quality of audacity makes them seem especially threatening.

There is only one sure way of getting rid of these pests that menace us in the city, whether they are rats or foxes, and that's to take away their food. If there was nothing for rats and foxes to eat, they would probably not breed so much and eventually their numbers might drop.

Mind you, I am doubtful whether there's much likelihood of this happening. One of the signs of the deregulation of behaviour that has pervaded our society is a massive and revolting waste of food.

For example, take our neighbours. They're single, extremely nice and well-mannered. But like a lot people they enjoy having barbecues in the back garden with their friends. More often than not, they don't get around to tidying up afterwards. I've seen their patch of lawn strewn with discarded packets of chicken pieces and suchlike in the middle of the night and several foxes at once feasting greedily on the detritus. Where there are foxes, I presume there are rats too. And in any case the foxes are bad enough. They spoil our cities. Let's stop feeding these pests, and they might leave us alone.